Heidi Payne contends she's subjected to "unbearable noise" at her home on Fort Lone Tree Road from the work going on at El Capitan Mine a half mile away.

"For the past three months, I've had to live with the constant drilling of the pneumatic hammer at the mine," she told county commissioners during the public forum portion of their meeting last week. "I spend most of my day in the barn with my horses and that's all you really hear and can see" as the mine operates 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

"If you think the pneumatic hammer is loud, wait until we get the rock crusher," she said.

She contended that dynamite was exploded at the mine in late August or early September twice. She heard the blasts, as did her neighbors, Payne said.

"I was in the barn in the pen when the blasts went off around 9 a.m. or 10 a.m.," Payne said. "All of a sudden I heard a muffled, but loud explosion. The ground trembled and my horses scattered everywhere. They are flight creatures. They will run frantically as their first reaction to something out of the ordinary. That's extremely dangerous."

Before moving to New Mexico, she lived near an air force base in California and knows the sound of jets, sonic booms and earthquakes, Payne said.

"I've experienced all sorts of noises and now I can add dynamite," she said.

"If there really is gold there, how could the mining be minimal impact" as specified in the El Capitan Mine original permit, she asked. "Doesn't all that big equipment change the status of their mining permit and isn't it the county's responsibility to do what is necessary to protect its citizens."

A state mining and minerals official earlier this month clarified that the mine is operating under a modified permit issued in March that expanded the operation. The spokesman stated that during a recent inspection, no blasting was detected and that mining officials denied any blasting occurred. Blasting would be a violation of the permit unless a blasting plan was submitted to the state and approved. County officials at the time said they were uncertain if the changed nature of the operation meant that El Capitan now falls under the county mining ordinance. At the same time, company officials announced the mine's first big sale of iron ore.

Payne said she worried about possible disturbances in underground wells from air borne debris and the mining work, and the effect on historic kilns located in the national forest behind a fence with a warning that disturbing the structures could result in arrest. The health of her horses, who are sensitive to changes, also is at risk, she said.